Starbucks Recalls That Shook The Coffee Chain

Starbucks is, without a doubt, the biggest coffee brand in the world. Not only does it have more than 40,000 stores globally, but it also sells products in more than one million retailers around the world. Often, the chain gets it right. It offers drinks and food items that people love and keep coming back for. Think: Pumpkin Spice Lattes and cake pops, for example. 

But sometimes, Starbucks gets it really, really wrong. So wrong, in fact, that it has put people's health at risk. Over the years, several Starbucks products have posed a threat of injury or a choking hazard. And sometimes, its popular food items have even made people sick.

When something does go wrong, however, the coffee giant is usually quick to pull the impacted product from the market. Below, we've listed some of the biggest recalls in Starbucks history that must have really shaken the coffee chain.

When you're cozying up with your favorite hot drink, the last thing you want is for the mug to break and put you at risk of a nasty burn. But unfortunately, that's what exactly happened to a dozen people from November 2023 to January 2024.

The individuals were using Starbucks' special metallic holiday mugs, which were produced by Nestlé USA and sold in gift sets at major retailers like Target and Walmart over the festive period. Ten people reported injuries after the holiday mugs overheated or broke, with several suffering from severe burns and blisters on their hands after microwaving the mugs or filling them with hot liquid.

To prevent anyone else from risking the same injuries, a recall was issued for more than 440,000 Starbucks mugs. Anyone who had already bought or been gifted the mugs was urged not to use them for their own safety.

If you're a fan of the Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccinos, you've probably grabbed one of the bottled drinks from the grocery store at some point in your life. But if you did so in 2023, you might have been at risk of injury. In January of that year, the FDA issued a nationwide recall for more than 25,000 cases of bottled Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccinos over fears they could contain fragments of glass. That's not what you want with your morning caffeine fix.

You might be wondering, how, exactly, does glass find its way into a bottled Frappuccino? Well, the most likely explanation is that it happens during the manufacturing process, when pieces of equipment or containers are broken.

Like with the faulty mugs, the bottled Frappuccinos were being sold at retailers like Walmart and Target. They were produced by PepsiCo, and not directly available through Starbucks' coffee shops. Fortunately, no major injuries were reported as a result of the glass contamination.

Potential glass contamination isn't the only reason that PepsiCo has had to recall packaged Starbucks drinks from the market. In 2022, the food and beverage giant had to pull more than 250,000 cases of Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso & Cream, Light Doubleshot Espresso & Cream, and Salted Caramel Doubleshot Espresso & Cream from grocery stores and retailers nationwide over concerns that they hadn't been sealed properly.

Not sealing bottles correctly is a concern, as it can lead to premature spoilage. It puts customers at risk, as consuming anything that has spoiled is not advised for health reasons. The canned drinks were particularly risky, because they were all made with cream, which is prone to growing potentially harmful bacteria. Anyone who had already purchased one of the recalled espresso drinks was advised not to drink it, and instead return it to the store they bought it from for a refund.

In June 2022, the team at Starbucks decided it was time for something new. The coffee chain launched its first ever chicken sandwich: The Chicken Maple Butter Egg Sandwich. Many people were excited by the news, and flocked to stores for a taste test. But there was one major issue. The sandwich appeared to make some people sick.

Just five days after its momentous launch, the Chicken Maple Butter Egg Sandwich was pulled from Starbucks coffee shops across the U.S. and employees were instructed not to sell or donate the product. Apparently, four baristas had tried the sandwich, and ended up becoming extremely ill with symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea. It wasn't just workers, either. Customers also reported on Reddit that they felt unwell after trying the sandwich.

The sandwich was later relaunched, but, if you see it now, it might be best to avoid it. Several customers have recently complained online about finding bones inside the breakfast option.

The mug incident wasn't the first time that a Starbucks product had to be recalled from the market due to risk of injury. Back in 2019, around 230,000 coffee presses had to be pulled from U.S. stores because they were faulty. But that wasn't all. A further 33,200 coffee presses also had to be recalled from Canadian retailers.

The key issue with the coffee presses, which were the Bodum + Starbucks Recycled Coffee Presses, was that the knob on the end of the plunger was prone to breaking off. In fact, this actually happened several times before the product was pulled from the market. In one incident, the exposed metal rod underneath the knob actually punctured someone's skin. In a bid to keep people safe from injuries, anyone who had already purchased the recalled coffee press was urged not to use it anymore.

Six years before the chicken sandwich incident, another Starbucks sandwich was associated with foodborne illness. In 2016, breakfast sandwiches filled with sausage, egg, and cheese were pulled from 250 stores in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas amid concerns that they might contain Listeria bacteria. 

If consumed, Listeria can lead to an illness called listeriosis. The symptoms usually involve things like vomiting and diarrhea, but for some, they can be even more dangerous, and include seizures and difficulty breathing. This is why the sandwiches were recalled from the market as soon as Starbucks was alerted by food manufacturer Progressive Gourmet Inc that Listeria might be present. 

This was a particularly bad period for Starbucks. At the same time as the Listeria recall, the chain also had to recall boxes with cheese and fruit from Washington stores due to concerns they contained undeclared allergens.

We told you 2016 was a bad year for Starbucks. Also in this year, the coffee giant had to recall 2.5 million stainless steel straws from its coffee shops because they, too, posed a risk of injury. The problem with the steel straws was that they were too dangerous for children to use. The hard metal end could poke them in the mouth, causing cuts to their gums or tongues.

To protect children's mouths, Starbucks pulled the stainless steel straws, and instead rolled out a safer, acrylic-based option instead. The alternatives were part of the coffee chain's mission to move away from single-use plastic straws completely for the benefit of the environment. In 2019, the chain started trialing a new style of cups with strawless lids instead. Less plastic and a much lower risk of injury to children — a win-win.

Injury risk seems to be a recurring theme with Starbucks recalls. In 2010, the chain issued a recall for more than 11,000 glass water bottles in the U.S. and 1,200 in Canada over fears they might be dangerous. The issue? When the stopper of the bottle was removed, there was a risk that both the bottle and the stopper could shatter, resulting in sharp fragments of glass that could lead to injury.

The recall wasn't a result of Starbucks just being overcautious, the bottles had actually already caused several injuries by the time they were pulled from the market. In fact, 10 people reported that their bottles had shattered, and eight of those people reported hand injuries as a result. In a bid to encourage people to return their glass bottles to stores and reduce the risk of further injury, Starbucks not only offered refunds, but also a free beverage to anyone who brought their bottle back.

The stainless steel straw recall wasn't the first time that Starbucks had to pull products from the market to protect children. In 2007, the coffee chain also had to recall around 250,000 children's cups from its stores because they posed a serious choking hazard. The problem was with the design of the cups, which featured colorful animal faces that protruded from the main surface. If dropped, this face could break off and shatter, and the pieces could either cut a child with the sharp edges or become a choking hazard if they placed it in their mouth.

Again, this recall wasn't purely based on speculation about what could happen, but what had actually happened already. In fact, prior to the recall, the coffee giant found out that the cups had broken on seven occasions, and on two occasions, a child had choked on one of the broken off pieces. To protect children, Starbucks urged customers to return the cups to its stores for a full refund. Once again, it gave out free beverages to anyone who returned the cups.

We've had mugs that burned hands, coffee presses that punctured the skin, stainless steel straws that could injure children's mouths, and many more risky products from Starbucks. And now, we give you: Coffee brewers that could start a fire. Yep, in 2006, Starbucks had to recall roughly 73,000 of its Starbucks Barista Aroma Stainless Steel 8-Cup Coffee Brewers from the market because of faulty electrical wiring that could overheat and cause a fire.

The chain knew there was a serious issue with the coffee brewers when it received 23 reports from customers stating that the plastic housing around the outside of their appliance had melted. For Starbucks, this meant it was time to start handing out freebies. It encouraged anyone who had already purchased one to return it for a refund, and in exchange, they would receive a free pound of Starbucks coffee.